Children and the
Home

The house is a marital asset. The value of that asset will be shared by the two of you. Usually, you have to negotiate an agreement if you want to continue to live in the house even if there are children living in the home.

In one attorney’s mediations, the couple decided that the custodial parent would live in the house until the youngest child graduated from grade school. A second mortgage was taken out so that the noncustodial parent could afford to buy another house. Once the child graduated and the original house was sold, the second mortgage was paid off out of the profits from the sale of the house, and after expenses for repair and maintenance, closing costs, and broker’s fee were deducted, the remaining money was divided equally by the parents.

In one of our office’s mediations, the wife agreed to buy out her husband’s interest so that she could remain in the house and he could move elsewhere.
It’s important to be aware that, although you may agree between you which one will be responsible for any remaining mortgage costs, if the mortgage is in both your names the creditor can continue to hold your both responsible.

If your former spouse agrees to be responsible for the payments on you jointly held mortgage, you can include in the writer agreement that you will be reimbursed if you make any payments because your former spouse failed to make them. You also can agree to specific compensation, such as some other assert, in case he falls to make the payments, or you can agree to sell the house if a certain number of payments are missed.